Keeping My Brother
by SannaSK
Summary: Crossover: Two FMA'ers land in the Bleach world. Nothing really spoilable here anymore Bleach eps circa 1520, end of FMA anime storyline.
1. If I Hold You Tight

**Keeping My Brother**

Begun Feb 4, Fri, 2005  
Edited Oct 16, 2007

**Genre**: Crossover  
**Universe/s**: Two FMA'ers land in the Bleach world.  
**Spoiler Warnings**: Set around Bleach anime eps 15-18, but references manga knowledge from a little farther on. Involves the end of the FMA storyline, so DO NOT READ if you are following Cartoon Network.  
**Question**: What is the concensus on filing Crossovers? Cause I can only list this under Bleach /or/ FMA… and I've listed it as Bleach b/c it's in the Bleach universe, but I think I'm gonna end up paying more attention to Ed+Al. So….. dunno.

The following is even more made-up than the two storylines which I am blantantly sticking my fingers into. FAKE FAKE FAKE FALSE LIES ALL LIES USO CHO-USO.

So, the Gate is fueled by human life energy, which means there has to be a balance on both sides. People die in Our world and fuel Their side, then they use alchemy and expend energy. When stuff is destroyed There, it goes through the Gate and fuels Our side again.

When the Quincys eradicate souls, they create an imbalance in everything, including time. Think of it like putting your foot down on muddy ground; the water will seep out of the mud and into the depression left by your foot. Things passing through the Gate are affected by this 'gravitational'-like effect.

What happens when a Shinigami purifies a Hollow? The re-Plussed soul goes to the Soul Society... but there is unaccounted-for energy, IE all the sins the Hollow committed while being a Hollow. When a Hollow is purified, those slivers of energy feed into to the Gate, the one "valve" between the two worlds.

So what happens when a being that is made up of smaller individual parts recieves a severe wound? Like... a Menos Grande. Said wound could be caused by the attacking force ripping off and purifying the smaller Hollow-forces that summed up to make a MG. Such a tremor of so much purified-Hollow-energy hitting the Gate in a single instant would undoubtably resonate within the Gate... at a time when two individuals were attempting to make 'deals' with the Gate...

According to the real storyline... First Al gave himself and the Stone up in order to fix Ed. Then Ed gave himself and those four years up in order to get all of Al back. So at some instant, both boys were in the Gate at the same time. Surely the Gate would take a buttload of purified Hollow energy as Fair Trade for a couple of little boys...

* * *

**Chapter One: If I Hold You Tight...**

As the Menos Grande which only a handful of people could see anyway faded back into the crack in the sky, Rukia could only gape at Ichigo, Ishida could only gape at Ichigo, Getaboushi could only smile knowingly, and Ichigo could only collapse from the strain. No one noticed two small figures dropping out of the very bottom of the crack on the far side of the park, which itself was on the other side of the construction fence, and landing in some bushes. Not even the Soul Society's Shinigami who were watching the battle from very far away. And even if anyone had noticed, what would they have done?

Everyone else crawled home, some of them dripping blood as they went, while Ed merely crawled out from under a bush and tried to figure out what in the hell just happened.

[What just happened? No injuries, I'm not hurt. Leaves, sticks, but I'm fine. He fell on his back and wondered how he had gotten from inside an underground theater to a park. He tried to piece his dizzied thoughts together. He raised his spreadeagled right hand to the sky... and noticed he had fingernails.

"AL!" Ed sat bolt upright and cried out from the bottom of his heart, vaguely aware that there was life around him, but it was on the edges of his periphery, and he didn't care if anyone heard. He had nothing to hide anymore.

"Here!" came a voice, a clear voice, a beautiful and precious and lovely and clear voice, a voice he'd been waiting to hear with this purity for four years, not resonating out from inside a metal box. The voice of his brother, his only family he considered himself to have left, the voice of his best friend. The voice of Al.

The bushes a few feet away shook sporadically as an exhausted Al tried to orient himself and climb out. Ed scrambled to his hands and knees and tried not to let his mind overload. [Al is here! It worked, he's here, he's back, I can hear him, see him, he's alive and he's fine and everything worked out and it's gonna be fine! The sensation of ground under the heel of his right hand, the little stone that suddenly dug into his left knee, the stiffness of the bush branches as Ed plunged his arms in and hauled Al out, none of it was pain, it was all joy, all beautiful... and Ed embraced his brother and cried with happiness.

Al's mind was spinning even more than Ed's. The world looked different, sounded different, the air tasted different, his body felt... different...

Ed repeated over and over as if it were the only word he knew, "Al, Al, Al, Al, Al..." then letting his voice fade into relieved sobs. Al could hardly do anything but try to catch his breath... and marvel at the feel of air in his lungs again... rejoice at the feel of Ed's arms around his shoulders. Suddenly he found his voice again, and he too started sobbing, and wrapped his arms around his brother's chest, and could only find to say, "Brother... I'm so glad!"

After a bit the crest of the moment faded, the tears slowed down, the boys caught their breath and sat up a bit more comfortably. Even still, they couldn't let go of each other.

"It worked," Al said, speaking quietly because he wasn't used to having real vocal cords.

Ed nodded furiously, looking at his brother, his fourteen year old brother, clothed in the same things he'd been wearing the last time he could wear clothes... hopelessly small on him now. The sleeves too short, the pants looking more like capris. His face, his eyes, his hair, everything looked so perfect, just because it /was/. "Heh... I don't want to close my eyes, I might be afraid it's a dream." Ed spoke quietly out of emotional exhaustion. Al smiled, and Ed realized that his smile was perfect too.

And Al realized, "Brother, your arm! Your hand, it's back, does that mean your leg too?" Ed shifted and pulled up his black pants leg just far enough to show skin. With his right hand, he ran his fingernails over his skin as though he were scratching an itch, then laughed at himself. "It's all perfect, Al."

Al smiled enough to close his eyes. "Yes, very very perfect."

And then, for the first time, the two boys bothered to look around and see where they were. "Where...?"

Ed stood up and looked through the bushes, over the railings that signified the edge of the park, and could only let his jaw drop. "Al... I have a feeling... we're not in Central anymore..."

"Mm," Al agreed, and slowly and carefully got to his feet, still unused to his real body. He took a look around, and gasped. "Brother! The cars! They're... so different. And... much faster, and so many..."

"And the buildings," Ed added quietly. "And the people, over there, see, and over there too. So many... Wherever we are, and why-ever we're here... it's not any place we know."

Both standing now, they finally turned to face each other. And they both realized that Al was a little taller than Ed.

Ed's face fell and his eyes darkened with anger. Al smiled apologetically and raised his hand to the back of his head. "Ah... I'm sorry, Brother, I didn't chose it this way..."

Abruptly Ed composed himself, and looked ashamed of his anger. "I know, Al, don't apologize. I shouldn't get mad over something as silly as height."

Al briefly wondered if Ed had sold that part of his personality to the Gate. [Not get angry about his height? But if Ed let it go, so would he. "So... where do we go? We'll need food, eventually... someplace to sleep. This doesn't look like a world that gives things out free, and we have no money."

Ed clapped his hands together and concentrated, and after a moment put them down. "I can't seem to do any alchemy here, so I guess we can't fix things for money. I'd feel bad, doing too much anyway, knowing what it costs..." He let his voice trail off, and since he was looking away from Al, didn't see the questioning look.

A branch in the tree overhead rustled as a black mass fell towards the ground and landed with the precision of a cat. Al jumped and nearly lost the little bit of balance he had.

Ed turned also to look at the cat. "A green-eyed cat? Never seen one of those before." The cat took off, ran about thirty feet into the clearer area of the park, then turned and looked back at the two boys.

Al asked, "Does it want us to..."

The cat sat. And looked at them.

Ed finished, "Follow? Sure seems like it. A green-eyed black cat that picks up strange boys and takes them home? This is a very odd place indeed."

The two boys stepped out into the afternoon sun and followed the cat through a city far more grandiose than they ever imagined cities could be. And all the while, talked and debated back and forth about everything that had happened.

* * *

Oct '07 - Updating one chapter at a time. I should subscribe to my own story to see what kind of emails, if any, you guys are getting. To future readers: when you get to a chapter that doesn't say it was updated after Oct 2007, you'll be reading a previous version, and it will /suck/. I'm editing them through, but unfortunately, this just isn't in Priority Slot #1 in life right now. Shitsurei shimasu 


	2. If I Heal Your Wounds

**Keeping My Brother**

**Genre**: Crossover  
**Universe/s**: Two FMA'ers land in the Bleach world.  
**Spoiler Warnings**: Set around Bleach anime eps 15-18, but references manga knowledge from a little farther on. Involves the end of the FMA storyline.

* * *

**Chapter Two: If I Heal Your Wounds...**

Ichigo lay on the ground, on the verge of passing out.

["How can I defeat a man with that look in his eyes?" He's really beating himself up over his grandfather's death, he's really got this vendetta scored into his heart. Maybe I'm the same... against the Hollows... the Grand Fisher... Then his mind faded into the same shade of black he wore.

Rukia sat between her feet, the ground matter scraping into her legs. She didn't care. On the borders of her mind, she registered Urahara's binding spell slipping off. She didn't care, either. Too much flew through her mind. [His power is... always on? The Soul Society could have detected a Menos Grande, but nothing showed up on my phone. They would have deemed me too weak, and sent... oh hell, stronger Shinigami to come take care of it... but when those Shinigami come and don't find a Menos Grande, they will ask questions... They'll find me and ask me, they'll find Ichigo and kill him...

Urahara had a much calmer version of Rukia's panic. [Yes, they'll see that on their radar, and send someone to deal with a threat that will have inexplicably subsided... and Rukia is about to run away, and Ichigo will of course go after her, and Orihime-chan and Sado-kun have their decisions to make, and I'll need to train everyone, and start putting the Gate together... if those Shinigami come after me, it will of course be troublesome, but I can only hope that doesn't happen. All he said was, "I'll leave that crack in the sky to you!" And then he was gone.

Urahara's companions went about their business, paying nearly no discernible attention to Ichigo, Ishida, or Rukia. Rukia staggered to her feet, and tried to walk with as much composition as possible to Ichigo, where she fell back to her knees. "Sleeping, is all. Baka." Somehow, it was almost an affectionate insult. She looked up to Ishida, still looking like a strung puppet in storage. "Quincy." No acknowledgment. "Quincy!" Still no acknowledgment. "Ishida-san!" He slowly blinked and turned towards her, looking as though he thought he were in a dream world. "Are you injured? Well, of course you are. How are they?"

He spoke slowly, with tremors in his voice. "Injuries?" He brought up his left hand, raw and bleeding, and looked at it as though he only half remembered how it had gotten that way. "Yeah... and they hurt. Quite a bit."

"Come with us, to the--" [Is it safe to bring him to the clinic? Will Ichigo's father ask questions? It can't be helped, we'll--I'll think of something. "Well, yeah, to the clinic. I have no idea what we'll tell them, but you need that looked at."

"No." This time Ishida's voice was firm. "I can treat myself."

Rukia blinked at him. "But you... look like you can barely stand..."

"That may be. But I will manage." He slowly and very unsteadily pushed himself to his feet as Ichi-Kon, clutching the lion in one hand, ran up to the scene. Seeing everything, he cringed as Ishida slowly walked towards him, mistaking the set jaw for anger, not suppressed pain. As Ishida passed Ichi-Kon, he turned back, and said, "But thank you for the offer." And slowly plodded off into the afternoon light.

Ichi-Kon watched him go, then threw himself towards Rukia and the unconscious soul of Ichigo. "NEE-CHAN! Is he gonna be ok? Are you ok?"

"Yes, Kon... but we need to get him home. And somehow without his family seeing."

"Can we not pick him up like this?"

"I could if I were strong enough. I don't think you can really touch him though, and that would look funny besides, two solid humans appearing to carry someone between them, but not really."

"Yeah. Does he need his body back?"

"I think so. Here, lay on your side next to him and cough up the pill, then I can roll his body onto his soul. And give me your body too." Ichi-Kon laid down on his hip and elbow next to the invisible soul with the lion body in one hand, and with the other reached towards his mouth for the green pill. Rukia put her hand on the lion doll, but before Ichi-Kon released it, he said quietly:

"Someday, you gotta give me your body, Nee-chan." And winked. And pulled the pill out, and Ichigo's body fell backwards onto his soul.

Rukia was taken so aback that as the arm with the pill fell, she almost forgot to catch it and keep it from rolling off and loosing Kon forever. She threw herself across Ichigo's prostrate form and scrabbled as it rolled across the ground, getting it before it disappeared in the growing shadows. With the lion doll in one hand and the Kon-pill in the other, she realized that if anyone saw her with her hips flat over the upper half of Ichigo's chest, it would be very difficult to explain away. She threw herself back over Ichigo, and scowled and growled at the lion doll in her hand. Then realized it was an empty doll. Then she scowled and growled at the Kon-pill in her other hand... then realized that he was inert in that condition. With a tired and irritated grunt, she shoved the Kon-pill into the doll, and proceeded to shake him till he woke up.

"Ahh, Nee-chan, you're choking me! Not that it really matters, I can't really breathe. But still!"

"Yes, I am, you lecherous, insulting, frustrating... DOLL! Why do I even bother to rescue you from being lost?" She threw him in the general direction of Ichigo and ended up hitting him in the crotch.

Kon sprang up indignantly. "Nee-chan! I don't like guys! I want /you/!"

Rukia put her hand to her face and thanked the powers that be that Ichigo was still out. "Let's just try to get him home. Somehow." She pulled and rolled Ichigo to a sitting position, mustered her strength, and did her best to pull him to his feet and gain her own too. Ichigo groaned, and she said, "Help me if you can, Ichigo. This gigai only has so much strength."

He did his best to put his feet under him, and mumbled, "What, ar'you sayin I'm fat?"

Kon wedged himself under her arm, and the two walking figures slowly turned and set off in the direction of the Kurosaki Clinic. They hadn't taken two steps when, from somewhere that sounded both close and far at the same, a young teen boy's voice cried out something that might have been 'AL!'

Rukia stopped and looked around, trying to see if she had ascertained the direction the shout had come from. Ichigo blinked and tried to ascertain if he had really heard anything or if his ears were just ringing. Kon had his face buried in Rukia's side, trying to pretend his face were buried elsewhere, and just ignored it.

Rukia muttered, "If it concerns us, it will find us, won't it."

* * *

Oct '07 - Chapter 2 fixed. Not much wrong here, fortunately. I don't quite understand how keeps losing my formatting. And only some of it. shakes head Anyway. I'm also going to remove any formatting that requires tags to display, IE italics. All thoughts will be in brackets and emphasis will be designated with slashes. I really don't like relying on hidden-tag-denoted formatting. But anyway. All for now on this one. 


	3. If I've Seen Your Face

**Keeping My Brother**

**Genre**: Crossover  
**Universe/s**: Two FMA'ers land in the Bleach world.  
**Spoiler Warnings**: Set around Bleach anime eps 15-18, but references manga knowledge from a little farther on. Involves the end of the FMA storyline.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 3 : If I've Seen Your Face...**

Somehow, they had adamantely stayed away from discussing anything to do with what had just happened, in the sense of Dante, the Ishi, Ed having effectively died, Ed offering himself to bring Al back... Being in a strange new world had helped decide the topic of conversation. Fortunately where they were now seemed to speak and write with pretty much the same language, although if they kept quiet and evesdropped on the passing foot traffic, they realized that understanding the basic words being spoken most certainly did not equate to comprehension of the topic. They marveled at the architecture, building materials, city layout, cars, people, fashion, and everything in the store windows. They had, of course, never seen television, cell phones, or a computer, and when they came to a store that sold all three of these things, they could not help but stop and gape at the display until the cat reaquired their attention by biting Ed's ankle.

After a while, the two realized that their conversations had boiled down to pointing out everything they didn't recognize and agreeing it was amazing and unbelievable. So they lapsed into silence.

Ed broke it. "Well, we know this cat is definately keeping tabs on us. Unfortunately I wasn't paying attention at all so I have no idea where we are now, in relation to where we started."

"Everything looks so similar in its strangeness... we could have passed by the same place two or three times and I'm not sure I would have noticed."

Ed noticed that Al was a little short on breath. "Daijoubu?"

Al grinned. "Heki, heki. I'm just getting used to the way a real body moves again."

Ed had begun to pay attention to the people, always present around them but never particularly crowded. "Sometimes they look at us, I guess we are dressed very strangely for this place."

Suddenly Al put a hand to his stomach, and Ed heard it growl. "Wow... I'd forgotten what it was like to feel hungry, mostly."

"Mostly?"

"Eh... heh. I guess I was always hungry, in a sense... eager to follow the path we'd started walking... eager to finish it and get back to normal. I mean, it's not the same as an empty stomach kind of hunger, but... the empty part matches." They came to a small grocery store that stocked fruit and vegetables outside, and both boys eyed the food and drug their feet as they passed, and sighed.

"I hope this cat has an owner that will feed us," Ed complained. The cat in question, without halting, turned back to look at Ed for a moment.

"Eee... I think she just glared at you, Nii-san." Al's voice sounded worried, and it struck Ed again that no matter how many times he had heard Al's worried voice in the past, it just sounded better here, this way. He couldn't keep the happiness off his face.

"What makes you think it's a she?"

"I don't know... just, kinda seems right."

Finally they turned down what seemed to be a more residental street. "Wow, if she lives in a house like this, maybe we won't have to worry about sleeping outside tonight." The setting sun made their shadows long, and street lamps began to flicker on as the boys passed them. Nevertheless, they walked through many walled residental streets until the sun was gone and the temperature started dropping. Al folded his arms to keep as much heat inside the cotton shirts he wore, while Ed clenched his hands and realized how used he had gotten to wearing those white gloves. "Heh, I guess I negotiated with the Gate to get my jacket, at least." After a moment's pause, he felt compelled to add, "Don't really remember much of the transaction..."

A few seconds later, Al replied quietly, "Yeah... me too." Ed wondered if Al also had the phantom memories flit on the edge of his conciousness like irritating moquitoes. Ed also kept to himself that this place in nearly no way resembled the war-scarred glimpse of the Other World he had seen before. It was almost as if... that world had matured, a lot. A whole hell of a lot.

After what seemed like an hour since they left the park/construction area, Ed and Al finally seemed to be nearing a shop. In the intermittant light of residental street lamps, the light through the windows of the shop made it seem both inviting and out of place. They could see two small children in front of the shop with brooms, a girl and a boy. The girl's soft voice barely reached the two brothers, but the boy's boisterous call that accompanied his wild swings was clearly heard: "Urusai! This is the soccer that men go crazy for!"

Where the light that spilled from the shop warred with the dusk, the cat stopped. The two brothers stopped too, and eyed the inside of the shop. Ed wasn't sure he could have categorized what the Urahara Shop sold... some of it looked like jarred candy, some of it looked like personal care products, most of it he wasn't sure if he couldn't identify because he came from such a different culture, or if even someone from this same culture would know with a glance what was being sold. But that one shelf there definately looked like food. Processed and packaged and he didn't know if he would recognize the ingredients, but it looked edible. He took a step forward.

The cat turned her face towards him, and very quietly but perfectly audibly said, "Stay here."

The Elric Brothers' jaws fell and their minds raced as the green-eyed black cat slowly sauntered towards the quiet broom girl, sat at her feet, and let out a 'mraaaw'.

"Chi... chimera?" Ed mumbled. But, it would have to be nearly perfect... more perfect than any one ever made before. "But... if this world can't use alchemy... then how?"

A man in a green coat and wooden geta and a green striped wide-brimmed hat stepped out of the store and exclaimed, "Isn't this Yoruichi You're back!" and scooped up the cat as though it were a baby.

Al muttered, "Yoru...ichi?"

At that moment, the green-coat man looked over at the brothers, and said, "And you brought company. And I bet all three of you have empty stomachs, don't you."

"Is he talking to us or the cat?" Ed whispered.

"I'm talking to you! The shorter one, aren't you the older one?"

Ed immediately disintigrated into anger and charged the man. "Who are you calling so short he needs a ladder to reach the top shelf?"

The man just smirked, shifted Yoruichi and put out his hand, and caught Ed by the forehead. The smirk changed to surprise when the force of the impact caused him to take a couple steps back. Ed was close enough now to hear the cat smirk and jump to the ground. He straightened up and looked up at the man, aware that a massive shape had appeared in the store's doorway, bearing what looked like a saucer and a jar of milk. He heard Al's footsteps pad up behind him, but still he kept his gaze fixed on the shade under the man's hat. He felt he was being sized up, _And if he dares make another chibi joke, so help me, I will-_

"You see it, Urahara." The cat spoke again as she walked up to the hulk of a man who was pouring the milk into the saucer.

"I see many things, which one are you referring to?"

Yoruichi took a few laps of milk before replying. "The Reiraku. You ever seen one that color before?"

Urahara may have raised an eyebrow, but he definately reached out with one upturned hand towards Ed's left shoulder. Ed took a step back. "Eh," Urahara said, "you think I'm going to hurt you? That's not how we treat visitors to our world." Ed's eyes opened in surprise, and Urahara's hand seemed to tentatively grasp and test the texture of something about eight inches in front of Ed's shoulder, something Ed couldn't see. "Of course, he continued, we're not exactly accustomed to having visitors of your... origin."

"Your... world?" Al's voice was quiet but just as stunned as Ed was, when he first saw a zepplin. To him, it only seemed a matter of a few hours, half a day at most. No wonder he was hungry. So much happens so fast... so much to find out, explain.

Urahara's hand dropped whatever he'd had a hold on, and motioned for Al to step forward a bit more. He repeated a shorter version of the texture-testing in front of Al's left shoulder, then turned and walked back in the store. And crossed his arms, and was silent. The large dark-skinned man replenished the saucer of milk, then stood and disappeared into the back of the shop. And still Urahara was silent. The boy with the broom fidgeted. Ed's stomach took that moment to let out a prolonged growl. Embarrased, he put his hand over his stomach.

"Jinta, Ururu." The broom children stepped forwards, and Urahara addressed them in a language Ed didn't recognize. They acknowledged and also darted off to the back of the store. Then he addressed the brothers. "Well, welcome to Earth, I hope you like your stay. At the risk of gaining two more stray cats, I invite you in for dinner and conversation, but from the sound of it, not both at once. Come, follow me, and leave your shoes in front of the tatami mats. Not sure if they have that custom where you're from."

Al smiled and stepped into the store. "Arigatou gozaimasu!" And he put his hands in front of his lap and bowed.

Urahara, already de-sandaled and on the step, threw back his head and laughed. "Well, I see they bow where you're from too, but kami no tame ni, keep your arms by your sides and don't bow like a girl, unless there's something about you I don't see and don't want to."

Furiously blushing, Al moved his arms to his sides and bowed again, deeper than the first, then slipped off his shoes and stepped up. Ed also bowed a little, not wanting to be too outdone, then sat to unlace his boots.

Yoruichi looked up. Urahara. "Who are you first calling a stray cat, if you don't want to gain two 'more'?"

Ed decided he would invest effort into not angering the cat.

Urahara paused, then with a glint in his voice, answered, "Jinta!" Then disappeared around the back wall. Yoruichi went back to the last of her milk. Ed shed his boots and followed his brother.


	4. If I've Heard Your Voice

**Keeping My Brother**

**Genre**: Crossover  
**Universe/s**: Two FMA'ers land in the Bleach world.  
**Spoiler Warnings**: Set around Bleach anime eps 15-18, but references manga knowledge from a little farther on. Involves the end of the FMA storyline.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 4 : If I've Heard Your Voice...**

Ichigo managed to recover enough on the walkdrag home that by the time he got to the door, he only barely needed to lean on Rukia's shoulder. They had discussed how to get past his family, and as fate would have it, his family was gathered around the TV, watching that Don Kanonji show. Well, Yuzu and his father were, Karin was just disappearing upstairs. As Rukia let the main door click to behind her, Ichigo took a deep breath and called out, as best he could, "Tadaimaa..."

From the living room came the sound from the TV, mixxed with a young girl and an older man's voice: "BOHH HAH HAH HAH HAAAAAAH!" Ichigo rolled his eyes and muttered, "Well, it'll be easier than I thought, at least."

Rukia whisper-stepped up the stairs and Ichigo, leaning heavily on the railing, clomped up behind her. She had just disappeared around the corner, noting that Karin's door was shut, when Yuzu leaned into the hallway and informed Ichigo's back that "there's dinner on the table for you, Ichi-nii..."

Ichigo tried his hardest to sound as alive as possible. "Thanks, Yuzu, I'll come get it later." It didn't work, something showed through, and Yuzu became concerned and took a closer look at him.

"Ichi-nii... are you ok You look like you've—"

"I just... got in a fight today, after school, is all." He could feel Yuzu's worried frown press into his back. "I'm fine, really. I'll come get the food later." And he continued, slowly, up the stairs.

Rukia had left his door ajar and had tossed Kon onto the bed. As for herself, she had slid open the closet door and was sitting on the shelf like it was a couch; leaning up against the wall with her legs out into the room, arms folded, ankles crossed. When Ichigo stopped next to her knee, she hopped out of the closet and looked at him. "Is there anything I can do? I mean, I don't really know what to do... the only thing I can think of is just lay down and rest."

Ichigo blinked. "Yeah... sounds good." He slowly moved towards the bed, Rukia putting a hand out to help him. "Kon, move your furry ass or suffer the consequences."

In an instant, Kon went from looking like an ordinary discarded stuffed animal to an energized bundle of insulted stuffed animal. "What consequences, you oaf? I haven't moved from where Nee-chan left me, and it seems to me to be a perfectly good place to lay."

"That it is," Ichigo replied, and turned his tall frame to collapse right where Kon was standing. Kon, being the agile stuffed animal he was, dodged just out of the way of Ichigo's shoulder, and took a breath as if to say more. But he didn't say more, cause after the day's events, he suddenly thought that it wouldn't be kind to berate the orange-headed oaf too much.

Rukia pulled out the chair and sat sideways on it, and didn't say anything either, just looked at him. After a moment, Ichigo turned his head towards her ever so slightly, cracked one eye, then languidly spoke. "Ano... don't take this the wrong way or anything... but you sitting right next to me makes me feel like I'm under observation or something."

Rukia hastily stood, muttered a sorry, and took a couple steps towards the closet. On second thought, she stepped back, reached over Ichigo, and snatched Kon up by his ear.

"Neee-chan! Hidoi da na..."

She lightly chunked him into the closet and said, "Hush up, just let him rest." She eased her own fake body back up into the 'couch' format, and picked Kon up and made him sit on her lap. "Heh, we're kinda funnily similar, have you ever thought of that, Kon? A couple of displaced souls in fake bodies, hiding everything from the world..."

Kon gasped and raced his mind, trying to turn that link into some way to get some snuggling action started. "Yes! Exactly, Nee-chan, how similar we are, we should explore more similaries! Don't you think?" Then he lowered his voice enough so that he hoped Ichigo wouldn't hear: "Or maybe I can just explore you a little?"

Rukia gasped in astonishment and overhanded Kon into the dark half of the closet, where the sliding door still closed it off, and heard him hit the wall, and wished she had thrown him harder. "Neeeeeee-chaaaaaan..."

"And stay over there, you ass."

"Lion! Not a donkey, thank you."

From his bed, Ichigo chuckled. Rukia relaxed just a little. Then she started thinking again, and a little bit out loud.

"Souls... fake bodies. A Soul Society outlaw and someone on her way to becoming one." She was quiet again, and Ichigo turned his head a little towards her.

"What?"

"Well, think about it. You're a human... and a Shinigami. And it's my fault." If they found you, they'd kill you. "He's windfall from a scrapped project, and would be... dealt with... on a second's notice if they found him out." And that's kinda... well, that's not really anyone's fault. Just one of those things that happens. "I've been gone from the Soul Society for... too long. It doesn't matter how long."

"They still send you Hollow reports, they can't hate you too much."

It's not about 'hate', Ichigo, it's not about emotion. It's about rules and regulations and How You Do Stuff and How You Don't Do Stuff. "They send reports to an area. It's like radio, a station just throws the information out there and your radio picks it up."

"Can't they track you using your phone?"

Fear boiled in Rukia for a split second at the mere suggestion, but the answer was, "No, again, in the same way that a station can't track your specific radio. But they'll have other ways of... of finding me." Rukia finished quietly. The more she thought about it, the worse her situation was looking. The worse everyone's situation was looking. Her's... Ichigo's... maybe even Kon's. Why I still offer a sliver of thought about him, I don't even know. But she did... because she'd already stuck her neck out to 'save' him from Urahara. She was awfully kind for a Shinigami.

Her mind started racing, but worse than that, whirling. Thoughts of her brother, of her adoptive family in general, of the Soul Society, of the knowledge of where she stood in line, both on the totem because of her surname and just in how powerful, or not-so-powerful, she was in relation to the other Shinigami. She was not going to get off lightly for this. She doubted they'd put her to death, but sometimes it wasn't about merely dying or not. It was about... about doing things right. Correctly. About following the rules and the regulations.

She'd broken a lot of those. Let a human, an untrained human, have access to her powers and abilities through a known but discouraged jutsu. That it and of itself should never have needed to happen. It was because Ichigo was so brash, charging against and enemy he could not have defeated, and she got in the way to protect him. She had immediately ceased all contact with the Soul Society... excepting the one captain who came after her at the cemetary. She had given him a defiant and cryptic message to take back, but who knew if anyone would buy it? For all she knew, someone was hunting her right now. For all she knew, they were here, in full Shinigami powers, sticking their head through the wall to say,

"Boo."

Rukia jumped a mile, throwing herself against the wall to her left with a 'thud', as Kon's voice invaded her right ear. It was only through training that she didn't cry out in alarm. She grabbed him by the neck with her left hand and prepared to throw him across the room, but seeing Ichigo so peacefully asleep, breathing shallowly and evenly, stopped her. She pondered throwing him to the dark half of the closet again, but decided not to. Instead, she just set him down and loosened her hand.

"I'm probably overreacting, aren't I."

Thinking she meant about throwing him everywhere, Kon replied, "Yes, Nee-chan," and followed it with a sniffle that was probably intended to garner pity-sympathy. Rukia ignored it, and tried to console herself that she was being paranoid... but looking at Ichigo's peaceful face only made her fear the day's events even more.

_They WILL see the appearance and the disappearance of a Menos Grande, and they will NOT have an explaination, and someone will come to investigate..._

Kon had squirmed out of her hand and hopped up mostly on her shoulder. "Neeee-chaaan," he started, "whatever the matter is, don't let it worry your pretty face like that. Come lay down (with meeee) and sleep on it. All problems look better in the morning."

Rukia had to admit, that sounded too tempting to pass up. Ichigo was still in his school clothes, and so was she. She hopped out of the closet again and stepped to where he was, and put a hand on his shoulder to wake him up. "Ichigo," she whispered, "you'll probably want to change and brush your teeth and stuff, before you sleep all night..."

Ichigo didn't move. She shook him just a little bit and spoke just a little bit louder. "Ichigo..."

Still nothing. She didn't want to shake him too much, but sleeping in school clothes couldn't be comfortable. She hadn't pushed the desk chair back in, so she sat down on it, and just started running her hand back and forth on a little bit of his shoulder. "Iiiiichigooooo..." she whisper-sang a little. Her hand moved in a bit of a wider area on the front of his shoulder. "Iiiiiii-chiiii-goooo..." She raised her voice pitch but not her volume. Her hand slowed as she processed the heat he was emitting. Suddenly, the immediate silence in the room and the slightly distant sound of the television downstairs, and the peace on his face and the heat under her hand coalesced into a surprisingly ... beautiful moment. Not for any real reason, but just... because. Because he was asleep and she was awake... because he was injured and she was not... because he was laying and she was sitting... it made her feel as though some odd version of maternal instincts were rising, like she was nursing him, taking care of him, helping him to get better. Her hand's pattern began to spread even more, down his arm a little and back, a little more towards his chest and back, to his shoulder-

And then she caught herself, and froze, and yanked her hand off. _I - what was - what am I doing... I guess it's just a ... a what? You're not human,_ she berated herself._ You are a Shi-Ni-Ga-Mi. Different. Altogether different. Now stop this and get ready for bed._ And in her determination, she stood and walked a few paces away. And stopped, and looked back at him.

_And yet... what was I berating myself for?_

Rukia wondered if she was subconciously keeping herself from answering, even as she climbed into bed.

As she settled down, she felt something under her side, and pulled out Kon, and chunked him, complaining, over her shoulder out into the room, and slid the door shut. Kon pounded on the door as best his stuffed animal paws let him, then apparently gave up and hopped up on Ichigo's bed. She heard Ichigo turn over once, twice, then get up and pad his way towards the hall door. And stop outside the closet.

A pause.

"Rukia?"

"Yeah?"

"Were you ... singing, earlier?"

She shifted over and faced where he would be seen, if the door were open. "Singing? Not like actual singing, just sort of... whispering..." _Your name..._

"Oh... I heard something... sounded like my name... was... pretty."

Rukia's eyes widened.

"I guess. I dunno, maybe was just my head. I'm gonna feel like I imagine hangovers to be like, tomorrow. Or maybe have funky dreams, heh, who knows."

_Pretty?_

He paused again, and may have opened his mouth to say something else... but didn't. Then, "Anyway, night Rukia."

"Night," she whispered.

_... and what am I berating myself for now?_

_

* * *

_

Author's space.

Yay, I have a couple of reviews already. Thank you so much for reading.

Yes, I have the Elric brothers speaking Japanese (and reading it too, I might have put that in as a clause-to-cover-my-ass). Why? ... cause if they can't communicate, that makes stuff way too hard. So... I'm gonna pretend they speak Japanese.

As of this note, I'm posting chapters 4-7 in one swoop... and then it gets interesting. o0. Thanks for reading, thanks for any reviews.

- Sanna


	5. Do I Have To Go Home?

**Keeping My Brother**

**Genre**: Crossover  
**Universe/s**: Two FMA'ers land in the Bleach world.  
**Spoiler Warnings**: Set around Bleach anime eps 15-18, but references manga knowledge from a little farther on. Involves the end of the FMA storyline.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Five : Do I Have To Go Home?**

One of them was Jinta and one was Ururu, and Ed wasn't fully sure which name went with which child. He guessed that Jinta was the boy, because surely Urahara wouldn't throw such a jest at such a shy little girl by calling her a stray cat behind her back.

Ed and Al were kneeling on cushions, across the table from Urahara, who had opened his fan and might have been either meditating or regarding them. The hat kept Ed from seeing his eyes, and this made Ed a little edgy. Which is probably the desired effect. Jinta was running in and out of the room with bowls, plates, glasses, tea (but he didn't pour it), and when Al cast his eyes to the side, he could see the very large dark man and the little girl cooking.

Ed cast around for suitable questions to ask... and he had so many. He decided on one that seemed most appropriate for the company present. "Why do you say we are visitors to this world?" Al sat up a little straighter, and Ed wondered how many more questions Al had for him.

"Well, for one, your brother is abominably dressed, yet you are perfectly comfortable, so either you're an awful older brother, or there's a darned good reason you two are like that." Al blushed and looked down, and tugged on his sleeves, as though that would fix things. "For two, Yoruichi wouldn't bring me a couple of normal strays and expect me to feel them, without a darned good reason."

At that moment, the sliding door to the kitchen opened with more force than it had before, and the tall man came out, empty handed, followed by Ururu and Jinta, carrying a tray each with food; a huge container of steamed rice and a nearly-as-large pot of stir fried vegetables and meat. The tall man sat next to Urahara, Ururu sat on the end between Ed and the tall man, and Jinta walked around and sat on the end between Al and Urahara.

"Normally we'd have a more diverse spread, but for getting it done in a hurry, bulk seemed to be a better option. Food first, questions later, sound good?"

Ed opened his mouth to answer, but his stomach growled for him.

* * *

Al thought that perhaps his brother ate half the rice and nearly one-third of the stir fry himself. Somehow, it seemed that the food ran out just as everyone got full. Yoruichi had slipped into the room and seated herself neatly between the two men, but stayed silent. Even so, Al got the feeling that she was sizing them up, trying to find information from the very way they moved while eating. Al tried to pace his own eating so that he wouldn't finish too far before his brother... because four years of experience showed him that a hungry Ed would eat either until the food was gone or until he couldn't swallow another grain of rice. Al also ate slowly for another reason... it wasn't exactly that he had 'forgotten how,' but, well... it had been four years since he had picked up chopsticks. Since he had put anything in his mouth. Since he had had a mouth to put anything in. He tried not to glow too much with the sheer enjoyment of tasting food again.

Ed finally put his bowl and sticks down, and bowed his head. "Gochizousama." Al did the same, and added quite truthfully, "That was the best meal I have had in years."

Ururu did something very akin to a very shy beam of happiness. Jinta stood and started stacking dishes, and she followed suit. Urahara spoke: "I would like you two to be present for the conversation, so just leave the dishes in there and come back, please." Then he addressed the brothers. "Now. You have questions, but I only have a few answers. I know you are from a world that is not this one."

"How?" Ed interrupted.

Urahara held Ed's gaze and paused deliberately before answering. "Your Reiraku are... the wrong color."

"Well, what color should it be?" And Al followed with, "What's a Reiraku?"

"A Reiraku is... similar to an aura. Think of it a little bit as... if a woman wore too much perfume and walked around the city, and you could see the trail of perfume hanging in the air. But even differently, if you could stand at some point in the city, even a point where she had not been, and be able to find her by finding her scent. That is a Reiraku."

The boys just looked at him, trying to understand.

"It's a spiritual thing. If you can't see them, there's most probably nothing I can do to teach you." Urahara pinched the air in front of his left shoulder, and pulled his hand out and away, and seemed to lace an invisible string around his fan and hold it out for display. Ed and Al looked at the air, at each other, and made a small shrugging motion each. Urahara likewise shrugged and dropped his hands.

Al asked, "What's the point of a Reiraku?"

"What's the point of an aura, of your hair color, of your breath? It doesn't have a point, it just is. However, it can tell you a little bit about who a person is. People of this world normally have translucent white Reiraku. However, I imagine Yoruichi was intrigued by a couple of clueless boys sporting bright blue Reiraku."

Yoruichi spoke. "I found them in the park next to where Ichigo slashed the Menos Grande. They're not dressed like they're from around here, and the conversation I was witness to was a little... specialized. Sitting in a bush and being amazed you have a leg is not an everyday conversation. I've only heard once of someone with a blue Reiraku."

Ed sat up a little straighter. "What was his name? Hohenheim? Was he in a city named... um... London?"

Yoruichi blinked at him and paused before answering, either weighing her words or searching her memory, Ed couldn't read feline facial expressions well. "Hohenheim... perhaps. He dabbled in what these people call magic, and was occassionally, if disastrously, effective. All I remember hearing was that somehow he got ahold of a Plus before a Shinigami had come to purify it, and had tried to put it back in a body. I don't remember the end of the story, but I don't recall it being particularly... pretty."

Ed sat back and set his jaw. Al could only look at him. After a moment, he murmured towards Ed, "Ne..."

"He came here. He had to have come here. He had to have still been here."

"Otousan?"

Urahara and everyone else looked at Al. "Your father? You think he's..."

"Masaka," Yoruichi stated flatly. "This, 'story,' is well over fifty years old."

Ed put his hand on the table and declared, "He DID come here. I don't know if we're talking about exactly the same person, but Hikari no Hohenheim DID come to this world."

"How do you know?" This from Urahara, who had replaced the fan in front of his face.

Ed sat back and quietly said, "Because I've been here once too. Through the Gate. And back again. And now through again."

Urahara snapped his fan shut. "Once already? When?"

"Earlier today."

Silence. Then Urahara commented, "You two are a very confusing pair." Pointing the fan at Al, "You too?"

"No sir, I've only dealt once with the Gate."

"How did you find this 'Gate'?"

Silence again. Then Al raised his hand to the back of his head and apologized, "It's kind of a long story..."

"The whole story isn't needed. I assume that since you belong there, you need to return." More silence while they pondered that.

Back What's left there for us... well, I am a National Alchemist... and Winry would worry... but here, I finally got Al back... not to mention the rest of my body... and isn't that the important thing? But this world is... so different. No alchemy. But... in the long run...

But it was Al who spoke. "Yes. We do. We do need to go back. There will be people there who will miss us." And Ed knew he was right. Al was the most important person to him, but Ed knew that both the brothers were very important to other people. And so, if not for his own sake, but for theirs, they did need to get back.

"Family?"

Ed said, "No."

Al said, "Yes."

Ed looked at the table, and smiled ruefully, and amended, "Yes."

Urahara chuckled again. "You two are very confusing. This may be fun. Granted, life around here has been more than usually interesting of late, but what's one more cat in the box. If I may observe, you two look like you've been through Hell, which I suspect may be more accurate than I'd like to think about. I am a businessman here; a dinner I can provide out of the goodness of my heart, but from now on, you boys will be, so to speak, on a tab. Can I trust you to work for me in exchange for a place to sleep and new clothes, at the very least for the younger brother?"

They answered in unison, "Yes sir."

Urahara stood and spoke in that odd language, upon which the two children stood and scurried out of the room. "And after all this, I don't believe I've caught your names."

"Edward Elric, and this is my brother Alphonse."

"Edward-kun, Alphonse-kun, if you will follow Ururu, she will show you to a room where you can sleep for tonight, and we'll continue this tomorrow morning." And he flashed a grin, then turned and left in the direction of the front of the store. Yoruichi and the tall dark man followed him.

Jinta and Ururu had set out a pair of folded futons in the corner of a large and slightly ornate room, and Ururu, pointing at a door further down the hall, said, "That's the restroom when you need it. Oyasumi." Ed and Al thanked her, and slid the door shut.

Al marveled at the decorations. "It looks like a practice room. And it's huge!"

"Nah, you're just not used to being less than two full meters tall." Ed unfolded the futons with a single motion and laid down on the one nearer the wall. He tucked his left arm behind his head, and began inspecting his right hand again. Al knelt down on the other futon and watched his brother, then suddenly took Ed's hand in both of his own and happily said, "Nii-san, I'm so happy it worked!"

Ed grinned and squeezed Al's hands. "Me too, Al. More than words can say."

A knock on the door before it opened caused Ed to sit up. It was the tall dark man, kneeling, pushing a couple of stacks of clothes into the room before him. "I am Tessai, the co-manager of this store. Urahara sent some sleeping clothes, as well as day clothes for tomorrow, and some personal care items as well. If you have any questions about anything, please come to me." Al, already kneeling, placed his hands on the floor and lowered his head, and Ed moved to mostly match.

"Arigatou gozaimasu, Tessai-san," Al, the ever-polite one, said. When Tessai had closed the door, Al retrieved the clothing and they sorted it out between them.

"I guess the flannely stuff is sleepwear, since it looks like we have the same ones," Ed commented.

"I guess this is a toothbrush. And this says toothpaste, tho I have no idea what this toothbrush is made out of."

"Odd material they make their pants out of. Thoughtful of him to include underwear too."

They changed into the pajamas and brushed their teeth, and folded their old clothes next to the new ones, and laid down in the futons. Al turned to face Ed, and chuckled. "It's been four years since I've slept... being tired is strange."

Ed turned his head towards Al and noticed his eyes were almost shut. In a few breaths, they shut completely, and his breathing evened out. Ed grinned, his own fatigue catching up with him in a hurry. He had just enough time to reach over and run the back of his right hand lightly once across Al's cheek.

"Yokatta, Al."


	6. Do I Have To Leave Your Side?

**Keeping My Brother**

**Genre**: Crossover  
**Universe/s**: Two FMA'ers land in the Bleach world.  
**Spoiler Warnings**: Set around Bleach anime eps 15-18, but references manga knowledge from a little farther on. Involves the end of the FMA storyline.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 6 : Do I Have To Leave Your Side?**

Ichigo's eyes flew open. As expected, he had a killer headache, but also that feeling that he just knew he wasn't gonna get back to sleep. At least it was morning enough that the sun was up.

Kon was sprawled backwards on the bed between Ichigo's head and the desk. If it was possible for a stuffed lion to snore, Kon was snoring. At least, he was making very soft snore-like noises. Ichigo shook his head, then wished he hadn't shaken his head, and sat up. And wished he hadn't sat up.

He slowly stood and slowly padded his way to the door. And stopped next to the closet, and tapped lightly. He heard Rukia shift, then the closet door opened a crack.

"'Hayo," he ground out.

"'Hayo," she returned. More noises that sounded like her trying to make sure she was decently presentable. "You don't sound so hot. Isn't that the way the phrase goes?"

"Heh. Don't make me laugh, it hurts too much. You wouldn't happen to have some kind of ass-kicking pain killer in that arsenal of wierd stuff, would you?"

"Arsenal of weird stuff?" Apparently she had decided that she was presentable enough, and slid the closet door open enough to see him face to face.

He wasn't sure if the sun had moved up over a house just enough to let in a lot more light, or if his pounding headache was playing tricks on him... but in yellow and white plaid flannel pajamas, with her hair a bit mussed, kneeling on white bedsheets, lookingupathimlikethat _URUSAI AHOYARO just keep walking!_

He looked away and tried to make his feet move. "You know... the stuff. You always have stuff. Pills that have Kon, I've seen you take other pill-things, and sometimes you pull out three little containers when you get your phone. I don't know or really care what they are, just wondering if you have anything that would make this cement in my head go away."

"My Gigai medicine." Against his will, he looked back at her. "The stuff you've seen me take. It keeps me in sync with this body. It's probably not safe for you. I can see if I can get anything that is, though."

Again he closed his eyes and this time took a step towards the door. "If you could, that would be... very good. Please." _It's all just the headache, it's just in your head, you bastard._

Rukia dialed the only number she ever called.

* * *

"Urahara Shop, how are you this morning, Rukia dear?"

Rukia blinked. "Apparently not as good as you, since you sound happier than I generally hear you."

"Nani itteshimasu, I'm always happy to hear from a customer. What may my humble shop provide you with this morning?"

_If he were human, I'd say he either had the best woman of his life last night, or he's drunk already. But I know it's neither, and therefore... he is in an odd mood. Definately._ "Ichigo is feeling the effects of yesterday, so I thought I'd ask and see if you had some kind of extra-strength pain killer, perhaps a healing medication. Something that will work just well enough and not have any reaming consequences."

"If you don't mind my observation, it's a rather small errand for making such a trip over here."

"Kankeinai. You're a businessman, as you like to remind me. I make an order, you fill it, I pay you."

"And bless you, somehow, you manage to pay up front. The best kind of customer. And for only a tiny fee more, I'll even have my new couriours run to meet you, so you won't have to come all this way before school."

Rukia blinked. "New... couriours?"

Urahara gave her the address of a street corner. "Two boys, blond hair, light eyes. This is Japan, you won't be able to miss them."

Ichigo wasn't moving much faster after breakfast. Yuzu gently chided him for getting into fights, she thought he was still being picked on for his hair. Ichigo slurringly assured her this was not the case, and managed to sneak a cream bun outside for Rukia. He met her a block away, where she normally waited after jumping out of the window.

"I got some medicine for you."

"From Getaboushi?"

"He has a name, you know."

"Shiranai and don't care. As long as the it makes the pain stop. I'll thank him next time he mysteriously shows up."

Rukia gave him the address. "He said we'd know them on sight..."

Ichigo shrugged and set off... at one-third his normal pace.


	7. What Is The Price?

**Keeping My Brother**

**Genre**: Crossover  
**Universe/s**: Two FMA'ers land in the Bleach world.  
**Spoiler Warnings**: Set around Bleach anime eps 15-18, but references manga knowledge from a little farther on. Involves the end of the FMA storyline.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 7 : What Is The Price? **

Al opened his eyes slowly. Soft light seeped into the room through the opaque windows all around. _What happened... so much... yesterday, then, we slept, and... _He started and sat up a little onto his elbows. "I had a dream!" he happily exclaimed to a large empty room.

He turned and saw Ed, messily entangled in futon covers, lightly snoring, and grinned. "Nii-san, nii-san! Okiru, okiru!" He shook Ed's leg, the closest appendage.

Ed groggily opened his eyes. "Naaaaniiii," he groaned, squintingly opened his eyes against the light, and raised his head a bit.

Again, there was a knock at the door. Ed fell back on his pillow as Tessai again pushed the door open. No formalities this time. "Urahara has work for you." And then the door closed.

Ed's stomach growled. Al giggled. "All that food last night wasn't enough?"

"Never is."

They both had a pair of pants out of a slightly stiff blue material, and Ed had a shirt combo that was black and white, whereas Al's shirt was a dusty sage green button-front. They padded their way down the hall towards the room that had been a dining room, and Al whispered, "Do you think I can ask for shoes? My old shoes from yesterday were way too small."

As if in answer, Ed whispered back, "I smell rice," and slid open the door. Sure enough, the other four were already at the table, with a meal similar to last night's dinner.

"Forgive us for already having started, but the day waits for no being." Somehow, Urahara kept that fan in the same hand he held his chopsticks with, even as he was eating. The cane was by his side too. For a man who looked as... young? Old? Did Urahara look like he had an age? Whatever he looked like, he didn't look like he needed a cane. Tessai was the first one done and through the kitchen to leave his dishes before vanishing towards the store-area of the building. The two children finished and followed suit, but Urahara ate calmly. When he too finished, he set his bowl down and said, "I have a job for you. It involves walking in a city you don't know, and moreover, both of you leaving at once. Is at least one of you good with directions, and is there any collateral I can keep here to ensure a return?" He said it as though he had half an idea, or more, of what collateral he could use.

Ed said around a mouthful of rice, "We'll come back."

"How do I know?"

"We'll come back. You have our word."

"I'm envious that you come from an age where giving word has such weight."

Ed right hand twitched, sending his white-rice-filled bowl halfway across the table, spilling clumps of rice everywhere. Al exclaimed, "Nii-san!" and moved to start cleaning things up. Urahara merely looked at Ed in surprise. The shadow that slammed into Ed's face couldn't have been hidden if he tried. But then he blinked, and apologized, and helped Al collect the spilled rice.

"Wow," Urahara mused, tapping the fan to his lips. "Was it something I said?"

"Nandemonai," Ed muttered, standing with the discarded rice in his hands and moving to the kitchen. "Just an involuntary shudder."

Urahara looked at Al, and said quietly, "I don't believe him."

Al looked down at his own food, suddenly very un-hungry. "If you can, please, try not to use a word like 'envy' around Nii-san."

"'Like' envy? What words are 'like' envy? Jealousy?"

"No, jealousy is fine. But a word like... 'greed,' maybe. And definately not 'sloth,' I'd think."

"Al." Ed had returned with a clean bowl. "Don't say silly things to our employer. There's no problem." He knelt and dipped some more food, and began to eat again. After a moment, Al picked up his chopsticks too.

"And the otouto? Do you have any words that bring involuntary shudders?" Urahara's voice was carefully stripped of all emotion... unless there was a slightly concerned paternal tone hidden under the still-closed fan.

"I said I was fine," Ed stated.

"You are not the otouto."

With his bowl in one hand and chopsticks in the other, Al quietly asked, "Perhaps 'pride', please." And then slowly finished his breakfast.

Urahara merely looked on, eyes hidden beneath the green striped hat. "A pair of very interesting boys indeed. I suppose they were happened upon by the Spanish Inquisition." He stood. "When you are done, leave the dishes and come out front. I'll write you directions to where you will take some medicine. And we'll discuss... collateral."

* * *

Ed strolled out first, hands in the small back pockets of the pants. "Where's the cat? Yoruichi. San. I should probably ask her what her favorite food is."

Urahara looked up from his seat on a tatami mat. "And why would you be interested in such a thing?"

"I've decided I need to ensure I stay on her good side." Even as he said it, Ed wasn't sure why he had; he hadn't meant to, and it was something relatively unlike him to actually say. "And because I'm curious as to how a talking cat comes about in this world."

"Ah. Well, rest assured, you won't find any like her. And should you actually do, it won't matter, because you'll die immediately after." Ed and Al, till now scanning around the shop, both snapped their heads over in shock. "But! Like I said, it won't happen, so you won't need to worry. Now, about the job."

_Somehow, him saying things like that so casually... I believe him. He's completely right. What kind of world is this?_

Urahara held out a piece of paper, with a cross-hatching of roads on it, some labeled, most not. "You, are here. You need to be here." He pointed. "You will take this," he handed Al an oblong container with an animal's head on one end, "and meet a young man and a young woman. They will be expecting you. She is rather short and has short dark hair, and he is rather tall and has bright orange hair. That is relatively rare for this culture, as is your own hair-eye combinations. So, three exceptional people looking for each other."

"Four. The woman." Ed sat to put on his boots, still where they were left from yesterday. Al's shoes had been replaced with red lace-tied shoes that looked like they were made from canvas, and also looked like they fit his feet.

"Rukia is not someone I'd classify as visually exceptional. Therefore, three. Now. She may but probably will not pay you. This is fine. The young man most likely will take the medicine as soon as he gets his hands on it. This too is fine. However, if she asks you how much, _and_ he has already swallowed the medicine, first you must say, with a completely straight face, thirty thousand. Hopefully she'll get mad at Ichigo."

"Hopefully?"

"If she asks before he takes the medicine, tell her, 'a day and a half, and half a kiss.' In which case she will probably swear under her breath at me and stalk off. This too is fine. If she does anything else, tell me when you get back." Urahara flipped out the fan in front of his face, as though that were the end of the conversation all together.

With his shoes on, Ed stayed seated and said, "You said our word was not enough to bring us back. You always mention the differences between this world and ours; in our world, it would be a grave offense to claim a man's word is not enough."

"No offense was intended, but this world has a saying: 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do.' And I would never take a man's word from a boy."

In a flash Ed was in Urahara's face. "Whom are you calling so small he'd fit under a tatami mat?" It was all Al could do to keep Ed away.

"Nii-san... this is harder when I'm so much smaller than I was! Calm down, please!"

And suddenly Ed was calm, and it had nothing to do with anything Al had said. In a flash, Urahara had grabbed his cane, the mundane walking stick he always had with him, and had laid it on Ed's shoulder. And suddenly, Ed had the feeling that if he moved, he would be cut. Deeply. Not that he was a particular stranger to wounds of the flesh, but to be sliced by a cane was... mildly unheard of. At best.

Urahara spoke low. "You don't get to see what's under this tatami mat." He stared Ed down, then added, "Now sit back. I still haven't told you of your collateral."

Ed backed off in that manner that Al had seen him do... he was still fuming inside, but he'd feign calmness to get what he wanted.

"You asked about Yoruichi as soon as you came out, I wondered if that was an actual observation that she is not here, or a trick of... fate. Yoruichi has gone to find out more about the other blue Reiraku."

Both Ed and Al sat up a little straighter. Al whispered to himself... "My dream..."

* * *

That morning, as soon as he had sat up and exclaimed joyfully, the dream started to fade rapidly. Al had barely noticed, he was too busy being happy with other aspects of being in a real body again. Even had he remembered, he wouldn't have realized what he had overheard in the night that had become his dream.

Urahara had said, "You remember more than you are letting on."

Yoruichi had said, "Of course. Granted they can hardly be lying - you can't change the color of your Reiraku - but I'd never let spill everything I halfway know."

Urahara: "Could that man really be their father? I remember those news bullitans as though they were yesterday, though of course I remember them with the clarity of one who didn't care in the first place. Heh. They are no more than fifteen, and the Blue Hohenheim was easily fifty when this story took place. In this world, ninty-plus year old men don't have children... much less two." He took a breath. "Buuuut..."

Yoruichi: "If they're not from this world, any number of things could be possible. They're not quite human and age very slowly. Perhaps something stranger." They paused for a moment, then she continued. "Will you keep them for a day or two? I wish this hadn't happened now. The school is almost out for the summer, and Inoue and Yasutora agreed to be trained. I can contact the net and see if this Hohenheim is still alive, or if not... what happened to him."

Urahara: "Ki wo tsukete. By now, the usual places will be crawling with Shinigami, looking for information about the Menos Grande fighter."

Yoruichi chuckled. "I've kept myself safe for a hundred years over here. One more day will not do me in. But thank you. I should be back in a day or two."

* * *

If Urahara heard his whisper, he gave it no mind. "She knows how to get into the information net here. I do too, but I don't like dealing with them. She will find anything there is to know, and bring it back. How is that for collateral?"

Ed sat silently and stared at his crossed legs before speaking. "You hang it over our heads like we are children who need a leash. I told you, we gave our word that we will return, and work to repay what you give us." He looked up at Urahara. "That is all the collateral I need to give." He stood and stepped off the tatami mats and headed out the front door.

Al started to follow, but turned back and bowed to Urahara. "Thank you very much, sir. Despite my brother's words, I know we are both eager to hear of any news that may be about our father. And he paused and thought, then asked anyway. "If she really presses us for a real number, what should we say."

"She won't." And Urahara paused. And said, "Two thousand." Al turned to go. "No... make it two and a half. But she won't actually ask."

Al jogged a few steps to catch up to Ed, who started grumbling. "Lackeys and runners, and I get the feeling he's trying to use us as a shield."

"I dunno, it might be interesting. I mean, he wouldn't send us out into danger."

"Who knows what this world is like now. This isn't anything like what I saw in London." They rounded the first corner, and Al hoped that Ed had committed the map to memory as well as he seemed to have done. "Everything's advanced, everything's different. It's... possible but unlikely that we're in some other part of the world and there really is that much of a technology curve, but... I doubt it. Something just doesn't feel right for that to be so. We are somewhen different. And I don't know why."

Silence.

"And he didn't tell me what Yoruichi-san's favorite food was." Al looked at his brother in surprise. "Well, after all, if she's going to go find information for us, the least we can do is thank the lady."

Al grinned and started to skip down the road a bit. It was so good to be with his brother and to be in his real body. The morning sky was beautiful and this strange world was a very interesting place. Yes... life was good.


	8. What Must Be Paid?

**May 2, 2005**

So like omg! I'm not dead! Actually I think I may have died at least once in the interrim, but I'm not dead now... so either I'm Lazarus or an undeadzombiething. Here is Chapter 8 ! I got to a point in the middle and went "omg writer's block"... can you find the point?

I know I haven't cleaned up the Japanese in the previous chapters and there's a little more here... the one line that I left translated besides the actual quote, I leave here because I just love the way it sounds in Japanese. Yes, I know Bleach is in a Japanese speaking area and FMA is English-speaking... um, chalk it up to the MagicalGatePowers until I find a better explaination.

I also know of many typos and crap... I am going through the docs on my comp and fixing them... when I get KMB all done, I'll re-upload the finished version of everything so it'll be pretty.

* * *

**Chapter 8 : What Must Be Paid?**

Ichigo stood with slumped shoulders and half opened eyes, leaning on a light pole so he didn't fall down. Rukia stood a few paces a way, arms crossed, scanning the milling people for "two boys with bleach-blond hair and similar eyes." Eyes similar to each other's or to their hair, she wondered.

"They left a while ago, I gave them a map," Urahara had cheerfully informed her when she called to ask if the couriers were late or what. "They should just be minutes away." First he'd said 'light eyes,' now 'similar.' Light eyes in this world meant blue.

"Stupid fuzz," Ichigo mumbled.

"Stop griping, they'll be here soon."

"Last time I had to concentrate to see the Reiraku. Now everyone's is just dancing around like they're drunk. I can't but half see the people, and I wish I didn't see anything. Everything hurts. Stupidass Hollow."

Rukia glanced at him, just on the edge of her vision. She'd never admit it to him, but she was just a little jealous. She, too, could see Reiraku, of course, but not from the distance he could. He tracked a young boy's soul in a parakeet halfway across the city once; she didn't have that kind of range to her ability. She decided to push herself while she waited, just to see how far she could go. She closed her eyes for a moment and concentrated… willed herself to be calm and use her abilities.

The street corner. Rise up and view more. Don't bother looking at the people, just their Reiraku. Touch one and trace it back, who are you. A woman, in her thirties, fifteen feet behind this Gigai, sitting, at a café, drinking morning coffee, flirting with a man. Success. _Good. I haven't completely rusted._ Rise up again and view more. Touch one and trace it back, who are you. A man, a salariman, twenty meters ahead-and-right of this Gigai, walking quickly, a train schedule in hand – a flash of blue startled Rukia and sent her consciousness plummeting back into the Gigai. She snapped her eyes open with a gasp.

Ichigo noticed that. "Rukia?" he drawled.

A Blue Reiraku? What in the-- "Ichigo, can you concentrate at all? Look that way and tell me if you see a Blue Reiraku." She pointed up the street that lead towards the residential area, began to concentrate again; since she was looking in a specific direction, she'd be quicker, more accurate. 

And Ichigo beat the skirt off her. His eyes slid to where she was pointing, and he forced out of himself, "Yeah, two of them. A couple of kids our age. My age. What the hell does a blue Reiraku mean."

_Two? I'd only seen one._ She tried again to not be jealous of him, and kept concentrating. Yes, there were two, there was the second. Touch them and trace back, the boys were walking together. Only twenty meters away now, they would have been farther before. Maybe that was why she only saw one. They were very close to Ichigo's age, one might have been a little older. The feel was very similar, maybe they were related. She _saw_ them long before they came into view; yes, they had blond hair, the older one had long hair in a braid. _Boys in this world wear braids?_ She _saw_ that the one with short hair carried a Chappy container, like the container the Kon-pill had originally come in. That would make them the couriers. She opened her eyes.

"That's them."

"Wha?"

"Ichigo, is your soul draining out of you? Stand up and wake up. I realize the weight of what you did yesterday, but you look like you're about to die there."

His eyes moved to her and he forced his spine to cooperate and his feet to hold him properly.

Al clutched the side of the map in one hand and the animal-headed container in the other. "It should be right up here. What were their names again? Ichi…"

"Ichigo and Rukia, I believe he said."

"Do we introduce ourselves first or wait for them to speak?"

"No use trying to guess customs here. We'll say we're Urahara's couriers and ask them to state what we are bringing, to confirm they are really the clients. Hold the thing behind your back, we'll make them ID it if we can."

"A young man and a young woman…" They drew close enough that through the crowd they could see two people, a tall young man with orange hair, and a short young woman with dark hair, standing next to a light post. And both looking straight at them. The woman, she would be Rukia, stared at them intently, so much so that Ed wondered if she was upset. Perhaps he and Al had taken too long to get there. The guy, Ichigo, had his eyes half closed and looked like… well, he looked like shit, and Ed guessed he felt even worse.

He took a breath and stopped in front of the two, and started to open his mouth to speak.

Rukia beat him to it. "You are Urahara's couriers?"

The strong tone in her voice caught Ed off guard, and he rose to the challenge. "Yes. You're the clients?"

Rukia, however, was only looking at Al, who was about a head and a half taller than she was. With a start, Ed realized he hadn't registered how… short she was. Everyone made jokes about his minute stature, so it should have stood out more clearly that Rukia was… not taller than he was. In fact… she might have been… a little shorter. But she still wasn't paying him any heed.

"You have the Chappy, do you not?"

Al obediently moved his arms around from where he held them politely behind his back, and held out the container to her. "This?"

Rukia caught it up and held it out to Ichigo firmly. Ed decided from her mannerisms that she was indeed miffed about something. He wasn't one to apologize for something like time, but… he wondered if she got teased for being short, too.

Rukia noticed him looking at her, and merely stared him down. Then, at the same time, both of them got a look of apology, and glanced away. The dual motion did not go unnoticed to Al, but he misinterpreted it. Ichigo was preoccupied with popping open the Chappy, taking a single pink pill out, staring at it, grumbling, "Pink, well, I guess my head doesn't care," and popping it in his mouth. He swallowed, sighed, and turned to lean back against the light pole.

"Oi, Rukia, how long does this take to kick in?"

"I don't know, just wait a moment. We still have enough time before school, you can wait there for a moment."

"Sounds good," Ichigo groaned out, closing his eyes against the sky.

Rukia turned again to Al. "How much was it?"

Al opened his mouth to answer, and suddenly caught sight of a sign for a café about 12 meters behind Rukia, which proudly proclaimed a large cup of their specialty super-flavored coffee to go for 'only 500!' Al also remembered that the "true price" of the medicine was said by Urahara to be two thousand five hundred. Suddenly, saying 'thirty thousand' seemed like not such a good idea, especially when Al knew it was a lie.

But Ed had not seen the sign, especially since Ichigo was between him and the café, and moreover, Ed had walked away and out of earshot before Al had asked Urahara about the real price. The only number he had in mind was the one he gave Rukia.

"Thirty thousand."

Ichigo choked on his breath.

Rukia snapped her head over to Ed, and Ed realized the look she had given him when he first walked up was not a glare; THIS was a glare. A glare of death.

"I do not appreciate a couple of strange idiot children trying to cheat me out of a lot of money. Do not think for one minute I believe that that was worth thirty thousand. I know what Urahara sells; I may not know exact price, but I know worth. And unless that thing makes him sprout wings and _fly_, it is _not_ worth thirty thousand. You know what I think? I think you two schemed on your way over here to try to get that much out of me. Then you'd go back to Urahara, pay him what he really said, and skim the rest for yourself. Even if it's ten thousand each for yourselves, that's a lot and it's freaking ridiculous. Not to mention it's insulting that a couple of blue bakas think they can lie like this and get away with it." And in her anger, Rukia reached a hand out and clenched it around something invisible in the air that was vaguely in front of Ed.

Sometimes, dealing with angry people made Ed angry too. And sometimes, dealing with angry people made Ed calm down just enough to try to think faster than his opponent. And Rukia slipped when she said 'blue.' _That means she can see something about us, probably the Reiraku itself, given what it looked like she grabbed. Granted, it makes sense for Urahara to deal with people who can operate like he does, but she doesn't know that we know what she means. For all she knows, we're plain normal people of this world._ "Blue?" Ed feigned innocence and looked at his clothes. "Are we 'blue bakas' cause our pants match?"

A flash of horror danced across Rukia's face before she composed herself and let go of whatever she had a hold on. But it was Ichigo who spoke. And his voice was far stronger than it had been before.

"You're bakas cause you're lying to a girl and egging her on. When Rukia gets mad, that's when you fess up and say that Getaboushi told you to lie." Realization struck Rukia like lightning, and she reddened a little and put her hand to her face in shame. "However, it would have been a good joke… just about the only one a little boy could have come up with on his walk over." And Ichigo jammed his hands in his pockets and pushed himself off the light pole as though he intended it to be his parting shot.

If Ichigo correctly guessed Urahara's true nature, he simply did not have the experience to correctly guess Ed's. Ed would never, ever, let a comment about his height be anyone's parting shot.

Ed caught Ichigo's arm and pushed him back to face him. If he stared straight forwards, he'd only see about to Ichigo's sternum, but he'd never let his height stop him before. "WHOM do you think you're calling so short he could be swept down a sewer drain and get lost in the sea?"

Ichigo and Rukia blinked in surprise at this outburst. Al merely closed his eyes in a wince and sighed. "Nii-san," he pleaded in a murmur. "We're in public…"

Ichigo's surprise faded into a malicious grin, and he leaned down a little towards Ed. "I don't know, _if_ I see him, I'll tell you."

Now who is egging on whom? Ed positively radiated anger, and pushed up his sleeves. "You overgrown tree of a man, someone needs to prune your hair _and_ your ego."

"At least you called me a man, more than I can say for you. You two are brothers? You look alike, except he looks younger, and yet he's taller."

That was three. When Al had been in a suit, it had been fairly simple – maybe not easy, but simple – to keep his brother from escalating his angry protestations into actual physical violence. But Al was no longer in a large metal suit, and moreover, he was still getting used to the way a smaller and fully human body functioned. Suddenly he felt like he was in a dream, one of those dreams where he felt he was stuck in molasses, moving far too slowly to impede the events he saw taking place before his eyes.

"Nii-san—" he started to say, but Ed's right leg was already in motion, swinging up towards Ichigo's stomach. As much as Ed hated being called short, he indeed was too short to hit much higher than the waist of the taller teen. Rukia had just enough time to take a step back, and Ichigo acted out of pure reflexes, whipping his hands out of his pockets and catching the red-booted ankle. Even so, there was enough force in the kick that Ichigo was forced to back up against the light pole, and could only stare in surprise at the leg in his hands.

"Huh," he said softly, then turned a wicked grin towards the foot's owner. "You do realize that yesterday I took down a nine-story monster? He was taller than you'll ever _be_." And with that, Ichigo leaned over a little, wrapped his arm around Ed's ankle, and threw his entire frame into pulling Ed under and around him and around the side of the light pole, aiming him back towards the residential street the Elric brothers had come out of. Ichigo's height caused the maneuver to not only work, but to keep Ed's head from scraping the concrete as he 'flew'.

"_Ichigo_!" Rukia shrieked.

"Nii-san!" Al thought his eyes might fall out of his head. He'd seen his brother fight chimeras and Homunculi, but somehow this was scarier to him. Maybe being used to being metal had given his mind a form of protection, but Al suddenly had visions of Ed's head cracking into the wall of the café.

But fighting chimera and Homunculi and Izumi had given Ed a better edge than Ichigo's haphazard street-side schoolyard training had done. As soon as Ichigo let go of Ed's foot, he was twisting in midair to hit the ground rolling, and landed on his right shoulder. Of course completely forgetting that it was no longer metal. "_Gnnnn!_" he bit out, not wanting to give Ichigo the satisfaction of hearing his pain.

"You are on a street corner!" Rukia hissed. "You have the medicine, Ichigo, ignore the idiots and we can settle with Urahara later."

"Running, _bibi_?" Ed shot out, recovering to his feet and trying not to baby his shoulder.

"Of course not, shrimp!" And Ichigo charged into the morning sun's shade to meet an infuriated Ed.

Al and Rukia took off after them, Rukia hissing worriedly, "No offense but your brother is the hugest idiot I think I've ever seen!"

Al returned, "No offense but your brother can't be the smartest cookie in the box either."

"_He's not my brother,_" Rukia bit off, biting off her words.

Al backed off. "Sorry. But still. Calling Ed small has… never turned out well."

"He always does this?"

"Um, kinda, pretty much, yeah."

"Da-ka-ra! Aho ka?" (_Like I said! Is he an idiot?_)

Al couldn't answer that one, because either a positive or a negative were both incorrect. So he merely raised his hand to the back of his head and laughed nervously, as the inflamed sparring match garnered the of course disapproving attention of morning passer-bys. Either by chance or subtle intention on the part of one or both of the boys, the fight was slowly moving farther away from the main road, but it was still only a matter of time before someone called the police.

Rukia sighed. "Look, we have to stop them. For one, Ichigo has to get to school. For two, getting arrested is not conducive to anything. And for three…. Well, there is no three, we just have to stop them."

Al got as close as he dared. Both boys were showing signs of fatigue; they had no way of knowing each other's history, but the previous day had been significantly less than kind to them both. Urahara may have exceptional medicine, but Ichigo still needed to recover; and Ed, well, the only thing worse than dying twice in a single day would be to die a third time in the same time frame.

"Please!" Al called. "Stop this. It's getting no where. Just listen to me, ok? Urahara did play a trick; at first he did tell us to tell you thirty-thousand, and he thought that Miss Rukia would get mad at Ichigo."

Ichigo and Ed did stop and were both looking half at each other and half at Al. Rukia could only sigh and mutter under her breath at Urahara. Then she asked, "How much was it _really_?"

Al turned a little towards her. "Two and a half thousand."

She let out a little snort. "Tell him that will be paid this afternoon. Ichigo, can we please go to school now?"

"Only if the shrimp won't kick me in the ass as I walk. Not like he could reach any higher anyway."

"Who are you calling so short that he couldn't knee you any higher than the groin?"

"I bet you couldn't even hit that."

"Maybe so, awful small target."

Al thought he might be blushing. Rukia just put her face in her hands and pondered going to school without Ichigo.

"Has to be bigger than a shrimp's. I bet you look like a shri—"

Now Al was definitely blushing, and took off at a run, straight between the two older boys, back in the direction he sure hoped was the Urahara shop. The fight completely forgotten, Ed watched him go, the sighed and put his hands in his pockets and walked off after his brother.

"Where you going, midget?" Ichigo called after him.

Ed replied over his shoulder without even turning his head. "You don't have any right to speak to me. We are couriers. We have brought your medicine. Our employer trusts payment to arrive whenever Miss Rukia brings it. Our job is done. Go to school, ya light pole. And don't call me short again."

Rukia walked to stand closer to Ichigo, and they watched the blonds recede around the corner. Shaking his head, Ichigo turned and walked the other way, towards the school; Rukia followed.

After a moment he spoke. "Hey."

"Hm?"

"Thank Getaboushi for me, will ya? This medicine really works."

"Heh. Ok."


	9. Not A Chapter

Not A Chapter 

Wow. It has been well over 2 years since I last worked on KMB. Any mere apology I were to post at this point would be grossly insufficient. I let this story fall by the wayside, and I am deeply sorry.

I'm posting this as a chapter and not as anything else for a few reasons:   
-- everyone who has favorited this story and is therefore interested in more will get this in their email.  
-- anyone who reads this between now and whenever I update next will read this as though it were a chapter.  
-- the way ff-dot-net (why did it take that out when i uploaded?) is constructed has /always/ confused me, and unless they've changed for the better in the past 2 years, I'll be lucky just to get this silly little text file uploaded in something pretending to be the right place ANYWAY.

I used to hand-code HTML for /fun/ (akin to saying you /liked/ walking uphill in the snow both ways). My lack of comprehension of internal structure is insulting. But that's neither here nor there.

I've had a lot of thoughts about KMB over the two years since I first worked on it. First and foremost, I'd like to address the Japanese I used. I watched both FMA and Bleach in Japanese long before I saw any of either in English. As a serious student of Japanese, it was a fight to dissociate "Japanese language" out of "FMA." (At least Bleach is intentionally set in Japan.) As I'll be editing my back-files once over before re-posting them for public consumption here, rest assured that I intend to take out at least the vast majority of Japanese. (Urahara does what he damn well pleases, I should warn you.) Also, I recall Rukia getting increasingly out-of-character, the longer I wrote her. I'll probably spend some time diving back into the manga and reading her, getting back in her head, so hopefully I can fix/stem the tide of OOCing I was doing.

As for the rest of the kind comments you all left, you all are so sweet to read my story and leave comments, even when it hasn't been updated in so long. I can't promise when the next chapter of KMB will show up (first, i'm fixing the back chapters, and that will take a little bit of time anyway, and secondly, there's a whole crapton of complete and utter crap going on in life right now), but I haven't forgotten. I'll work on it.

Thank you so much.

And now for my soapbox.

My husband's younger 23-year-old sister died about a week ago (early Oct 2007), of a brain tumor. She was admitted to the hospital Wednesday night and was brain-dead by noon on Thursday. She left behind a 4-year-old daughter and a 4-month-old son who are being raised by the husband she left three months prior when he bought a plane ticket for a mistress instead of food for his family (you know, the one with the INFANT SON).

Make sure that at all points in your life that if you died tomorrow, you know what would happen to everything around you. If you don't want your jack-ass of a should-be-ex husband raising your children, make sure the courts know that. If your parents could be better helped by having the money that's in your bank account (so they can, you know/bury you/), make sure they, not your idiot druggie spouse, are the "payable-on-death" people.

Anyway. I know this might sound mean, or harsh, or doomsday-like. But someday, preferably soon, you really should think about it. No one our age plans on dying. No one plans on a high-on-drugs speeder slamming into your driver's side door at 3:27 on a bright, sunny day. No one plans on a surprise brain tumor. Even if you don't /expect/ the unexpected, at least plan for it. Because those you leave behind will be much less stressed because of it.

And tell everyone you love, every time you see them, how much you love them. Because when you can't tell them anymore, at least they'll remember how often you said it when you could.

-- Sanna Oct 2007


End file.
